Confections, particularly candy bars, are typically manufactured by forming a solid central core of a confectionary substance, such as nuts, coconut or some other granular, edible material embedded in a matrix of a second edible material, and then coating the central core with a thin layer of chocolate. The chocolate coating operation can be conveniently accomplished by placing the core of the confection on a moving endless belt and pouring molten chocolate over the core as it passes underneath a suitable dispenser.
The solid central core of a typical chocolate coated confection can be inexpensively made with automated equipment long known in the confection field. Confections having a more intricate shape, however, such as an openwork or lace-like pattern, are rare and are conventionally made by hand in relatively small quantities. Moreover, manually produced openwork matrices cannot be satisfactorily coated with chocolate using conventional machinery since the process would tend to fill in the interstices of the openwork structure and thereby diminish the aesthetically pleasing openwork appearance desired for the finished confection.